The connection of a cover to a plate (tube plate) of a heat exchanger requires a reliable seal between the two stated elements in order to prevent an escape of coolant and thus a possible failure of the heat exchanger or of an assembly to be cooled thereby. A plate of said type of a heat exchanger of said type is often, as a tube plate, equipped with corresponding rim holes through which, for example, there are pulled flat tubes. Said cover may for example be in the form of a coolant box and thus contain coolant. Normally, a reliable sealing action between the cover and the plate is realized by way of a seal which is inserted into a corresponding receiving groove of the plate. Here, the receiving groove is in fact composed of two parallel receiving grooves which are arranged, orthogonally with respect to the rim holes in the plate, at the edge of the plate and which are jointly produced during the punching and/or deformation of the plate. The seal runs between the two receiving grooves, orthogonally with respect thereto, specifically normally likewise at the edge of the plate, in a groove formed especially for the purpose.
To be able to form such encircling receiving grooves or grooves into the tube plate between the rim holes, one punching tool for one plate size is required, or a relatively cumbersome family tool is required, in particular if it is the intention for the tube plates to have different lengths.
EP 2 498 040 A2 has disclosed a heat exchanger which, for the precise sealing of the plate with the cover, does not provide an encircling groove in the edge region of the plate, into which groove a seal in the form of an encircling sealing ring is to be placed and onto which seal the cover is then placed or pressed. Rather, in the known heat exchanger, use may now be made of a plate which can be manufactured as material sold by the meter and which is cut to length correspondingly to the heat exchanger to be produced. For this purpose, the encircling sealing element or the encircling seal is placed into two opposite receiving grooves and is additionally, at ends of said receiving grooves, led over a surface of the plate between two rim holes.
FR 2 822 532 B1 discloses a further heat exchanger.